VALDOSTA —
Rowell Auctions hosted a high-energy event for the sale of 112 parcels of land — a total of 152 property units, when divided — owned by Valdosta landowner Charles Toles of C-Max Properties.
With at least 129 confirmed buyers from 13 states involved in the bidding both live and online, the room at the James H. Rainwater Conference Center was filled to the brim and noisy with bustle.
During the registration period, the line stretched out the door and into the hallway, past posterboards featuring the sale contract, bid receipt paperwork and other information. The registrants filled out paperwork at a long, white table where Toles and his secretary sat as the auction progressed.
All auctioneers wore a uniform of blue suits with white shirts, and matching red-and-white diagonally-striped ties. In the corner of the room, an entertainment duo, Big Ernie Soul and Danny Fallin of Albany played up-tempo music on electric keyboard and drums, including polkas and song requests.
The active bids, which began online before the start of the live auction, were displayed by projector onto a screen at the front of the room, and as the properties were announced, the image of their fronts were projected onto a smaller screen near the auctioneer’s podium.
Auctioneer David Harp served as master of ceremonies and delivered the speedy live auction as other auctioneers shouted and raised their hands as they identified bidders holding up their numbers. The auctioneers and many bidders followed the bidding on iPads and computers they had brought to the event.
“You can do it on a computer, but an iPad makes it a lot simpler,” Auctioneer Mark Manley said.
Though live bidding closed at the fall of the hammer, silent bidding continued online after the event. The terms for the bidding listed a flexible official close of auction — once the final property was closed at live auction, bidders were allowed an additional 10 minutes to make a bid online. Any online bid extended the bidding a further 10 minutes until no more bids were offered.
The bids officially started at $1,000, and were guaranteed lien-free, but online bidding through the morning raised the starting bid at the live auction significantly. The first properties presented opened closer to $10,000 and higher. The sale contract included a deposit of $2,500 for each property on top of the closing sale price.
One property, 914 N. Oak St., was offered for bidding severely damaged — a large oak tree had fallen on the house during a recent storm, badly crushing it.
“This one’s got a few extras,” Harp announced to the audience. “This one comes with a tree; a tree fell on it. But all properties are sold as-is.”
“You’ll have plenty of firewood for the winter!” another auctioneer shouted.
The property was sold along with its neighbor, 912 N. Oak St., at a closing bid of $14,000.
Bidders in attendance included a large number of tenants “who have analyzed and decided they could buy the houses for less than what they paid in rent,” Manley said.
While there was no way to tell how many out-of-staters participated in the auction in-person, some of the out-of-state buyers were also in attendance, Manley said. The online registry showed buyers from Georgia, New York, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, California, North Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts and Louisiana.
Toles’ secretary said some of the buyers from whom Toles had made his original lump-sum purchase in 2005 were also present for bidding. County Commissioner Joyce Evans and Valdosta Assistant to the City Manager Mara Register were also present to view the auction.
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